West Karoun Output to Rise by 1 mbpd

EghtesadOnline: Iran aims to boost the nominal output capacity of its shared oilfields with Iraq in an oil block known as West Karoun in Khuzestan Province by 1 million barrels a day from the present 320,000 bpd, the chief executive officer of the Petroleum Engineering and Development Company said.

News ID: ۷۷۷۵۹۲

11 July 2017

“To fulfill the lofty goal, $36 billion in investment are needed, of which some $21.5 billion worth of projects are already in development,” Noureddine Shahnazizadeh also told Mehr News Agency on Monday.

West Karoun, Iran's top priority for raising crude production to restore market share it lost to international sanctions, includes Mansouri, Yaran, Yadavaran as well as North and South Azadegan joint fields. The block holds an estimated 67 billion barrels of oil in place. Shahnazizadeh said output from the South Azadegan field is just above 45,000 barrels per day and is slated to rise to 85,000 bpd in the second quarter of 2017, Financial Tribune reported.

Asked about production from the South Yaran Oilfield, he said, "We are confident that crude oil extraction from South Yaran field will begin within two months at a rate of 10,000 bpd."

The official noted that the 10,000-bpd target is well within reach, but may have to wait until the end of the fiscal 2017-18 to raise production to 25,000 bpd.

According to Shahnazizadeh, crude oil output from Azar field has already reached 30,000 bpd and plans are in place to boost it as much as 65,000 bpd by the end of the present fiscal year in March 2018.

Located in Anaran block near the border with Iraq in the town of Mehran in Ilam Province, the field holds 2.5 billion barrels of crude oil in place, some 400 million barrels of which are recoverable. It is one of the six joint fields with Iraq, along with Dehloran, West Paydar, Naft-Shahr, Azadegan and Yadavaran.

According to Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, oilfields in the West Karoun region top the ministry's development priorities. Officials say raising the rate of recovery from West Karoun by 1% would increase recoverable reserves by 670 million barrels, or some $33 billion in revenues with oil at $50 a barrel.